The current conceptual model of the unconfined karstic aquifer in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, is that a fresh-water lens
floats above denser saline water that penetrates more than 40 km inland. The transmissivity of the aquifer is very high so
the hydraulic gradient is very low, ranging from 7–10 mm/km through most of the northern part of the peninsula. The computer
modeling program AQUIFER was used to investigate the regional groundwater flow in the aquifer. The karstified zone was modeled
using the assumption that it acts hydraulically similar to a granular, porous medium. As part of the calibration, the following
hypotheses were tested: (1) karstic features play an important role in the groundwater-flow system; (2) a ring or belt of
sinkholes in the area is a manifestation of a zone of high transmissivity that facilitates the channeling of groundwater toward
the Gulf of Mexico; and (3) the geologic features in the southern part of Yucatan influence the groundwater-flow system. The
model shows that the Sierrita de Ticul fault, in the southwestern part of the study area, acts as a flow barrier and head
values decline toward the northeast. The modeling also shows that the regional flow-system dynamics have not been altered
despite the large number of pumping wells because the volume of water pumped is small compared with the volume of recharge,
and the well-developed karst system of the region has a very high hydraulic conductivity.
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We have used sandbox experiments to investigate and to illustrate the effects of topography upon the development of arcuate thrust belts. In experiments where a sand pack shortened and thickened in front of an advancing rectilinear piston, the geometry of the developing thrust wedge was highly sensitive to variations in surface topography. In the absence of erosion and sedimentation, the surface slope tended to become uniform, as predicted by the theory of critical taper. Under these conditions, the wedge propagated by sequential accretion of new thrust slices. In contrast, where erosion or sedimentation caused the topographic profile to become irregular, thrusts developed out of sequence. For example, erosion throughout a hinterland caused underlying thrusts to remain active and inhibited the development of new thrusts in the foreland. Where initial topography was irregular in plan view, accreting thrusts tended to be arcuate. They were convex towards the foreland, around an initially high area; concave towards the foreland, around an initially low area. Initial plateaux tended to behave rigidly, while arcuate thrust slices accreted to them. Thrust motions were radial with respect to each plateau. Within transfer zones to each side, fault blocks rotated about vertical axes and thrust motions were oblique-slip. At late stages of deformation, the surface slope of the thrust wedge tended towards a uniform value. Initial mountains of conical shape (representing volcanoes) also escaped deformation, except at depth, where they detached. Arcuate thrust slices accreted to front and back. Where a developing thrust wedge was subject to local incision, accreting thrust slices dipped towards surrounding areas of high topography, forming Vs across valleys.Arcuate structural patterns are to be found around the three highest plateaux on Earth (Tibet, Pamirs and Altiplano) and around the Tromen volcanic ridge in the Neuquén Basin of northern Patagonia. We infer that these areas behaved in quasi-rigid fashion, protected as they were by their high topography. 相似文献
We present a finite-element study of stress perturbation in evolving compressive and extensional strike-slip fault bridges. The results are compared with a fracture study of a compressive bridge at St Donats, UK. Horizontally interbedded calcareous mudstone and bioclastic calcilutite at St Donats have a distinct vertical permeability anisotropy. This sedimentary sequence behaves as a set of horizontal aquifers. The fluid flow in these aquifers is sensitive to mean stress gradients. Paleostress analysis of field fracture data, verified by finite-element modelling, indicates a rotation of σ1 towards parallelism with boundary faults inside the growing compressive bridge. Boundary faults and bridge faults recorded numerous fluid flow events. The modelled mean stress pattern shows a regional maximum within the bridge and local maxima/minima pairs at boundary fault tips.Finite-element modelling of an extensional bridge indicates that σ3 rotates towards parallelism with boundary faults. The mean stress pattern is similar to the pattern in compressive bridge but with maxima and minima locations interchanged. The stress patterns are reestablished by each stress build-up preceding the rupturation of the boundary faults throughout the development stages of strike-slip fault bridges. Mean stress gradients developed pre-failure control the fluid flow in fractures of the strike-slip fault system at and after the end of each stress build-up and the fluid flow in boundary faults post-failure. Fracture reactivation and new fracture generation within an evolving bridge is a process consisting of multiple successive events that retain the storage capacity of the bridge. Rupture and sealing of the main bounding-faults is a step-wise process that opens and closes fluid conduits between areas with different pressures. 相似文献
We have experimentally studied the formation of diamonds in alkaline carbonate–carbon and carbonate–fluid–carbon systems at 5.7–7.0 GPa and 1150–1700 °C, using a split-sphere multi-anvil apparatus (BARS). The starting carbonate and fluid-generating materials were placed into Pt and Au ampoules. The main specific feature of the studied systems is a long period of induction, which precedes the nucleation and growth of diamonds. The period of induction considerably increases with decreasing P and T, but decreases when adding a C–O–H fluid to the system. In the range of P and T corresponding to the formation of diamonds in nature, this period lasts for tens of hours. The reactivity of the studied systems with respect to the diamond nucleation and growth decreases in this sequence: Na2CO3–H2C2O4·2H2O–C>K2CO3–H2C2O4·2H2O–C>>Na2CO3–C>K2CO3–C. The diamond morphology is independent of P and T, and is mainly governed by the composition of the crystallization medium. The stable growth form is a cubo-octahedron in the Na2CO3 melt, and an octahedron in the K2CO3 melt. Regardless of the composition of the carbonate melt, only octahedral diamond crystals formed in the presence of the C–O–H fluid. The growth rates of diamond varied in the range from 1.7 μm/h at 1420 °C to 0.1–0.01 μm/h at 1150 °C, and were used to estimate, for the first time, the possible duration of the crystallization of natural diamonds. From the analysis of the experimental results and the petrological evidence for the formation of diamonds in nature, we suggest that fluid-bearing alkaline carbonate melts are, most likely, the medium for the nucleation and growth of diamonds in the Earth's upper mantle. 相似文献
Magma mixing structures from the lava flow of Lesbos (Greece) are analyzed in three dimensions using a technique that, starting from the serial sections of rock cubes, allows the reconstruction of the spatial distribution of magmas inside rocks. Two main kinds of coexisting structures are observed: (i) “active regions” (AR) in which magmas mix intimately generating wide contact surfaces and (ii) “coherent regions” (CR) of more mafic magma that have a globular shape and do not show large deformations. The intensity of mingling is quantified by calculating both the interfacial area (IA) between interacting magmas and the fractal dimension of the reconstructed structures. Results show that the fractal dimension is linearly correlated with the logarithm of interfacial area allowing discrimination among different intensities of mingling.
The process of mingling of magmas is simulated using a three-dimensional chaotic dynamical system consisting of stretching and folding processes. The intensity of mingling is measured by calculating the interfacial area between interacting magmas and the fractal dimension, as for natural magma mixing structures. Results suggest that, as in the natural case, the fractal dimension is linearly correlated with the logarithm of the interfacial area allowing to conclude that magma mixing can be regarded as a chaotic process.
Since chemical exchange and physical dispersion of one magma inside another by stretching and folding are closely related, we performed coupled numerical simulations of chaotic advection and chemical diffusion in three dimensions. Our analysis reveals the occurrence in the same system of “active mixing regions” and “coherent regions” analogous to those observed in nature. We will show that the dynamic processes are able to generate magmas with wide spatial heterogeneity related to the occurrence of magmatic enclaves inside host rocks in both plutonic and volcanic environments. 相似文献